The third international meeting of the Grundtvig Learning Partnership EU Project took place in the beautiful city of Rome hosted by Marco Calabrese, Francesca Corradi and Cinzia Verucci representing the Italian Institute of Collaborative Law. The project leader Czech partner was represented by Lenka Pavlova, Marie Bohacova, Eva Vankova and Blanka Schoeblova of the European Institute for Reconciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the Lithuanian participants were Inga Posiunaitè, Danguole Bogusevicienè, Povilas Smolskas, Andrej Bogusevic working for the Tinklas Association for Adult Education and from Slovakia, Slavka Karkosova, Renata Dolanska, Gabriel Pala, Kamil Kardis, Emilia Halagova and Martina Polakova of the Greek-Catholic Theological Faculty at the University of Presov took part. From Hungary, representing Foresee Research Group, besides the executive director Borbála Fellegi and the project coordinator Eszter Posch, Dóra Szegő and Zsuzsanna Z. Papp had the luck to participate.

The three day long professional and cultural exchange included a steering committee meeting where partner countries overviewed the outcome of previous efforts and further specified cooperation to fulfil the project objectives. As a result, a short overview of ADR in each country will soon be available on the project’s website and participants came to an agreement regarding the theme of the final conference that is to be held in Budapest hosted by Foresee Research Group where the European tendencies of radicalization and the possibilities and challenges of community mediation will be in the main focus of attention. The late afternoon program of the day invited a larger audience involving numerous Italian, Austrian, Swiss, English and Canadian collaborative law and ADR practitioners to discuss what may be the next step in helping them work more effectively and where do they see potential for cooperation on a broader European scale.

The following day exciting lectures took place where the audience’s perspectives were widened not only by the lecturers’ different country of origin but also by their various professional backgrounds. The Italian hosts started off by giving us an overview of ADR and collaborative practice in Italy by lawyer Francesca Corradi followed by lawyer Cinzia Verruci’s lecture on civil, commercial and family mediation. The third Italian lecturer was judge and psychologist Giovanna Di Bartolo who updated us on the evolution of criminal mediation in juvenile cases. Czech lecturers Lenka Pavlova and Eva Vankova gave us a summary from the mediator’s and from the lawyer’s perspective while Inga Pošiūnaitė and Danguolė Boguševičienė reported on ADR in Lithuania. The lecture given by Slávka Karkošková and Renáta Dolanská pulled in an inspiring perspective, discussing the cultural and religious patterns in conflict resolution with Slovakian examples. Finally representing Hungary and Foresee Research Group, Borbala Fellegi’s refreshing talk on restorative theories and practices with special focus on the application of a specific method, the peace-making circle with a case study illustration concluded the conference.

Besides the professional program there was also plenty of room for cultural, social and professional exchange. Participants had the chance to get to know some of the treasures of the ancient city including a the Forum Romanum, the Capitol Hill and the amazing building of the Pantheon, enjoying the beauty of the famous squares like Piazza Navona and Piazza di Trevi topping the experience with gastronomic adventures. The event was a wonderful combination of professional and cultural exchange while providing nice chances for networking, too.